Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Still A Great Takeout Dinner At Lotte Market

The Lotte Supermarket has reorganized its takeout section since I first wrote about it in 2008, but it's still a great place for an easy takeout dinner.

Lotte in Ellicott City sells marinated beef and pork -- including my favorite, the sliced ribs called kalbi -- by the pound, and it sells a small but tasty variety of Korean side dishes. Those range from a mild pickled cucumber salad to some more exotic items like tiny fish and oysters.

Ask to sample. Generally, a Lotte employee stands at the display and weighs your packages. They're happy to let you try each dish, and I recommend the juliened white radishes, any of the seaweed salads, and (if you like spicy food) any of the vegetables covered with the red-pepper paste. You can quickly put together a great meal with some kalbi and a few sides. I cook the kalbi in a cast iron pan, although you could grill them as well.

If you're looking for more, look for the containers of soup to the right of the kalbi and panchan display. Spicy beef soup is delicious on a cold night.

4 comments:

Marcia -- I hadn't been there in a long time either because the health department issues had bothered me. To my eyes, the place looked okay last week. But I'm not an inspector. Lotte isn't the H Mart. It is closer though.